N-Gage

I'm looking to get an N-Gage console soon, and with the help of a dear friend, managed to get a CIB Sealed copy of Pocket Kingdom (the game I want the system for) for only $16. Does anyone have any experience with it? I've heard Pocket Kingdom is one of the system's 'killer apps', and there are some other gems worth looking into, but as I said, I'm mainly getting it for PK. I really don't think N-Gage could be much worse than Game.com, Lynx, Gizmondo, or Tapwave Zodiac. In fact, it has a very tiny little cult following who are collecting the games while they're cheap. Looking to amass more of a collection over time, and I'm willing to give a lot of failed systems a chance, as often times they are misunderstood.

I like:

Glimmerati - overhead view racing
Pathway to Glory - turn-based strategy
Requiem of Hell - Diablo-ish
System Rush - futuristic racing
Puyo Pop - similar to Mega Drive version
Rayman 3 and Sonic are good but I would rather play the GBA versions

I just bought Puzzle Bobble for it for $5 but I haven't tried it yet.

And please don't put a great little system like the Lynx in the same sentence as the Game.com.

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

And please don't put a great little system like the Lynx in the same sentence as the Game.com.

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I don't know how anyone could see the Lynx as being in the same category as the Game.com, but then the Game.com probably has a fanbase too I suppose. After all, Game.com plays more games than I have brain cells apparently.

As for the N-Gage, I wish there had been more games released for it. But I did try Rayman and thought it was a pretty decent version.

The only "engage" I'm familiar with comes from Captain Picard. :p

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Originally Posted by NeoZeedeater

I like:

Glimmerati - overhead view racing
Pathway to Glory - turn-based strategy
Requiem of Hell - Diablo-ish
System Rush - futuristic racing
Puyo Pop - similar to Mega Drive version
Rayman 3 and Sonic are good but I would rather play the GBA versions

I just bought Puzzle Bobble for it for $5 but I haven't tried it yet.

And please don't put a great little system like the Lynx in the same sentence as the Game.com.

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Agree with all of those, also would recommend:

Colin MCrae Rally (port of the Playstation game)
Pandemonium (really nice port of the PS1 game, unfortunately they took out the music)
The Rifts (really nice Shining Force 3 type game)
Ghost Recon (not bad considering the hardware)
Ashen (decent FPS with a horror setting)
Tomb Raider (technically a nice port, but Lara is always on auto-run)
Tony Hawk (ok, but harder to play than the console versions due to the NGage control setup)
Warhammer (pretty cool war/sim game)
The One (ok 3d fighter with excelent graphics for the system)

I really liked my NGage, for some era i have a soft spot for PS1 era graphics, hehe. Unfortunately mine died a few years ago.

There are some quite intriguing games for this, it looks like it could be quite fun. It looks quite powerful too.

You are going to need a dummy SIM card or else the thing won't boot up. The SIM card doesn't have to be active, but it has to be authentic. Go look around on Ebay and you can find people selling old, deactivated SIM cards and one from AT&T should be correct for the NGage.

Further game recommendations:

RIFTS
Pathway to Glory
Snake 3D
Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory
System Rush
Mile High Pinball
high sieze

the standard symbion version of Tetris is also pretty good.

I didn't realize Pathway to Glory was a TBS game. Besides Pocket Kingdom, that's another one that was promoted as one of the system's 'killer apps'. Sounds good to me, as I'm a strategy fan and need more good strategy games to play.

BTW there's a cheap CIB copy of Pocket Kingdom on eBay ATM for anyone who wants the opportunity to try that gem:
http://www.ebay.com/itm/222357849929

The N-Gage was very ahead of it's time. Who would have thought that model would basically be the standard for portable gaming for the last 4-5 years with smartphones?

Didn't you just love the "Taco"? :mrgreen:

When I got mine I couldn't figure it out at first that you kinda had to semi-dismantle it just to swap out the game cards. Interesting design choice. :p

I'm waiting for my QD to arrive in the mail. Already got Pocket Kingdom yesterday. Will go to a nearby Mobile store and ask them if they have any dead SIM cards lying around that I can get for free. Paid $35 shipped for the QD last week.

Spot the "fake/dummy" QD in the pic. :p



http://i.imgur.com/DEyABFE.jpg

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Originally Posted by Thierry Henry

Spot the "fake/dummy" QD in the pic. :p



http://i.imgur.com/DEyABFE.jpg

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The first one? Are you saying it doesn't work even with that or something else?

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Originally Posted by Jeckidy

The first one?

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Yeah I made it easy by switching on the other two.
I didn't want to derail the thread too much with a page or more of "take a guess". :p

Quote:

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Are you saying it doesn't work even with that or something else?

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So, yes, it's non-functional, but it was never meant to be a working unit.
These were used as promotional material for when the QD was about to launch, and these 'dummy' units were also to be found in display units/cabinets in various stores at the time.

All the buttons are fully "pressable" (is that a word? :p ) but other than that- the unit is one whole piece. Can't be opened.

To the naked eye, and if I hadn't told you, it looks realistic enough.




http://i.imgur.com/53roey4.jpg

http://i.imgur.com/RVw7rBt.jpg



If I can find them, I've got a whole bunch of promo materials from my N-Gage collecting days.

Thanks for letting me know. Since you were a collector once, what are your top games for the system?

-Pocket Kingdom/Dragon Force. :p
-System Rush (F-Zero clone)
-Glimmerati (Spy Hunter meets GTA)
-Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
-Mile High Pinball
-Pathway to Glory

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Thierry Henry

-Pocket Kingdom/Dragon Force. :p
-System Rush (F-Zero clone)
-Glimmerati (Spy Hunter meets GTA)
-Splinter Cell Chaos Theory
-Mile High Pinball
-Pathway to Glory

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I too noticed that Pocket Kingdom was a sort of spiritual successor to Dragon Force. While I never really played DF, I am a Saturn fan and have been getting into strategy games as of late, preferring them very much over traditional JRPGs (i.e. Shining Force is more entertaining to me than Phantasy Star.)

That being said, my copy of Pocket Kingdom came in the mail a few days ago. Looking forward to playing it when my N-Gage QD arrives.

BTW can anyone tell me if N-Gage MMCs are protected or can they be copied from a standard MMC reader? Also, are they read-only or rewritable? Because if the latter, that's pretty lame.

I am so tempted to get one of these things out of sheer curiosity and the fact that I somewhat still collect Nokia stuff. Just bout an N93i a few days ago for 20 dollars.

I got my N-Gage QD today all the way from Asia, and well, is it just me or is the thing devilishly small? I always imagined it to look bigger, given the zoomed pictures. I thought it would be about the size of a PSP (which, if I recall, the original model was) and not the size of say, a Dingoo.

I remember good old 17daysolderthannes, and he was a staunch supporter of the N-Gage. For every "must-have" PSP or DS game you could think of, he could somehow pull an N-Gage game out of his ass that was equal or better (in his opinion).

I love handheld systems and I try to collect all of them, but I haven't quite gotten the bug to track any of these things down. I think I'll need to have a Wonderswan first.

Lol. I don't remember that aspect of 17. He was pecululiar like that, so I wouldn't doubt it.

But yeah, a Wonderswan is closer to a Neo Geo Pocket or a GBA, imo. So I'd go for that too.

I tried like hell to find the old thread where 17days was desperately defending the N-Gage against an onslaught of scorn and ridicule. My favorite post was when Tanegashima posted a picture of a genesis with an old-fashioned telephone taped around it, claiming it was the superior machine.

...ah, memories.

Lmao